2009 Inductees

Capt. William I. Evans, known throughout the industry and among all his friends and family as “Capt. Billy”, was born in Seabrook, Texas in 1936.  He became self-supporting at age 12 when he began his own business crabbing from a small wooden boat with a Briggs Stratton in-board motor.  He would sell his catch to various bait houses as well as the general public.  At age of 15, Capt. Billy went to work as a mate on a 54 Motor Sailor, a job he retained until he finished high school and joined the Navy.  He left the Navy with an honorable discharge after 4 years and returned to the life he loved on the Texas Gulf Coast, working first as 1^st Mate on a couple of luxury yachts and then attaining his Captain’s status.  Other than his wife of 32 years (Jeri) there is nothing that he loves more than fishing and keeping his employer’s boat in tip top condition.  He will tell anyone who asks that he feels greatly blessed that he had never had a day that he ever dreaded going to work.  Capt. Billy’s tenacity and integrity has offered him a long and fruitful career in this industry and his talent for providing his passengers with successful fishing events has made him a favorite among the fishing enthusiasts and at tournaments.  He has captained for such distinguished men as Dean Couch on his yacht “Princess Patsy,” Ivor Clark, “Topaz,” and Will Ohmstead, “Adelante.”  Capt. Billy is still running “Adelante” for the current owner, Gail Henry, Jr.  Capt. Billy is a modest man and when asked about the number of tournaments his boat has won and the many successful fishing trips he has organized, he will only admit that there have been many.  He was one of the first captains from the Texas area to take his boat to fish Cozumel, Mexico in 1972 and over the years has fished Florida, Bahamas, Mexico, Belize, and Costa Rica.  He’s always willing to share funny stories about various outings and of course he’s proud when his boat came in first at major tournaments, but when asked about is greatest success stories, he comes back to one thing.  He is proud of the young men who have served him as 1^st Mate and have become outstanding Captains in their own rights.  The list is impressive and begin with: Capt. Donald Moore, Capt. Dan Cantrell, Capt. Tommy Joe Gilner, Capt. Mike Butler, Capt. Kirk Elliott, the late Capt. Kevin Mueller, Capt. Keith Ardoine, Capt. Kelly Rutherford, and last but not least is his current 1^st Mate Capt. Todd Foerster.

George “Florida” Roberts.  Florida and his wife, Elda May, and their three children, Edgar, Louise, and Francis, arrived in and made Port Aransas their home in February of 1930.  Prior to moving to Texas they had lived in Florida where he caught his first tarpon in the year 1891.  After that he was ‘hooked’ and there was no stopping him.  He finally quit counting how many tarpon he caught after he reached 7,500.  His name is on the plaque at the Tarpon Inn for catching the first tarpon of the year 38 different times.  He also holds the record for hanging the most tarpon up in one day, 10 tarpon.  Four of those he had on at one time.  Florida also caught hundreds of huge Jew fish.  He still holds that record today with a 652.5 pounder.  In 1940 Florida had Fred Farley build him a 34’ cabin cruiser so he could fish the offshore banks.  He named the boat Trail Blazer.  He fished the offshore banks between Port Aransas and South Padre spending days on end anchored on rocks he had found with stopwatch compass.  He was the first one to use cane polies to hold baits out from the boat.  Today we call them outriggers.  Florida lost everything he owned four different times to four different hurricanes.  He was never discouraged and always rebuilt and started over each time.  Over the years they had fished, fed and boarded hundreds of satisfied fishermen.  Florida and Elda May touched many people’s hearts and lives.  They were true Texas pioneer legends.  Florida was a true Salty Dog.  Johnnie Roberts, Florida’s grandson and Nikki Roberts Haley, his great granddaughter both still live in Port Aransas today.  He was a true Port Aransas Texas legend.